


The Normandy

by PerseusHuntress



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 13:22:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16833448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerseusHuntress/pseuds/PerseusHuntress





	The Normandy

“It’s been a damn good ride” Shepard smiled at him.

“The best” Garrus laced his fingers with hers as they walked back to the docks, back to reality, to war.

The Normandy was home, Shepard had never had a home before. After Mindoir she was bounced around the system before enlisting in the Alliance. But the life of a marine was never a stable one, assignments changed, and she never managed to make any meaningful connections. She had only a few real friends here and there, now scattered in the galaxy by the war. But for the most of it the faces of the crews blurred, merging into one, leaving no lasting impression.

The Normandy was different. She had a vivid memory of the first time she set her eyes on the ship, it wasn’t a dramatic moment of revelation, the ground did not move, no heavenly chorus descended, but it was still a moment she would never forget. 

An officer in a crisp shirt and with brisk manner handed her a letter of reassignment, she took the letter cautiously, turning it over in her hand as if to find a hidden message, she was assigned to SSV Nairobi only a few short months ago. The letter also didn’t make any mention of her new posting or who would be her superior officer. It was decidedly odd, she was N7, special ops and as such had a high level of clearance, but the missive only instructed her to report to Dock 24. She tried to question the officer, but he simply did not know, the order came from the Admiralty, he was given no detail.

The dock itself held no particular interest, it was indistinguishable from any other on Acturus, but the frigate docked here was something else entirely. Where the Alliance vessels were all angles and sharp lines, the ship before her was sleek, the bullet shaped body extending into short angular wings. It was small too, built for speed and manoeuvrability rather than combat and intimidation. The glaring lights of the dock illuminated the name, SSV Normandy SR1. She was new, her body shimmered and bounced the light around, making her glow. Shepard didn’t notice when she slipped into personal pronouns, but she instinctively knew the Normandy was she, and a formidable one at that.

She didn’t notice when she fell in love, it was a gradual process too subtle for her to pin point the precise moment when it happened. She remembered sitting on the observation deck when off duty, watching the Normandy carve her silent path through the stars, it was peaceful, for the first time in her life she felt content. When Anderson handed her command, she felt conflicted, he was a friend and a damn good commanding officer, but a part of her was glad, the Normandy was finally hers, and hers alone.

What followed was a kaleidoscope of memories which wove Shepard even more firmly into the fabric of the ship. The first time Liara wondered the decks wide eyed, marvelling at the feats of technology. Tali beaming with pride when Adams complimented her work. Garrus sliding out from under the Mako covered in grime, smashing his head against the suspension when Shepard called to him. Wrex trying to teach Ashley Krogan combat techniques, whilst Kaidan biotically levitated targets for them both.

Then the memories turned more intense, when the first Normandy was destroyed and Cerberus rebuild them both, at first she felt alien, the angles were slightly off, the walls a little too smooth, but her soul remained, Shepard soon grew used to the new her, just as she grew used to her own new skin, and the ship accepted her without question.

The Normandy was more than a home it was family. It was where her and Garrus first kissed, under the blanket of glittering stars shining though the loft window. It is where Tali broke down and sobbed for hours in Shepard’s arms after her father’s death. The walls of the ship were full of memories of the people she loved, Mordin’s singing echoed through the halls, Jack’s stomping reverberated across the floor when the girl was in a foul mood, Grunt’s general mayhem leaving deep grooves in the walls. It was here that Miranda volunteered to be first on the Suicide Mission, where Thane asked for help and Samara made peace with the universe. It was right here where they celebrated surviving. 

Shepard’s life inscribed herself on the walls of the ship, the beginnings were shallow hardly leaving a mark, but as time flew her gossamer line was joined by more and more threads, stories that begun their life as companions but ended up thickly entwined with hers as friends, lovers and family.

None of it would have been possible without the Normandy, she was home, she was family, and Shepard would be nothing without her.


End file.
